Apparatus for producing shoe soles with tape attached



H. J. MORANVILLE APPARATUS FOR RonucmG'sHoE SOLES WITH TAPE ATTACHED Aug. 17, 1937.

Filed Aug. 1, 1935 [ml en /orflerman J fi/oranwY/e.

g ##arngy W Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFME APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING SHOE SOLES WITH TAPE ATTACHED Application August 1, 1935, Serial No. 34,132 3 Claims. (01.112-130) The invention relates to the art of shoe manufacture and consists in a novel mechanism used in the production of inner soles having tapes for attaching uppers thereto stitched to the inner sole throughout a portion of the length of the sole.

It has been customary in the manufacture of shoes of the type referred to, to mount a roll of tape upon a sewing machine and to sew a section of the tape to an inner sole substantially adjacent to one edge of the inner sole, then to remove the sol-e from the stitcher without severing the tape and to continue sewing another section of the tape along one edge of another inner sole,

l5 and so on. This operation produced a series of soles successively connected by the continuous tape, successive sections of which are attached to different soles, there being a section of unsewn tape connecting the successive soles. This string of soles was transferred to another operator who would cut the intermediate unsewn sections of tape so as to separate the soles from each other. The soles having the tape along one edge only of each sole were then returned to the stitcher and the operations described repeated in connection with the attachment of a tape along the other edge of each sole and the subsequent severing of the individual soles from the tape. This system required at least four operations to produce each sole in addition to the repeated transfer of the soles between the stitcher and the cutting table. The method also resulted in a substantial amount of waste in the portions of the tape between the sewed sections.

The main object of the present invention is to simplify the attachment of the tape to the soles, by reducing the number of operations and the time involved, and to eliminate the waste ofunused portions of the tape.

40 This and detailed objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing illustrating the apparatus used in the improved method, in which drawing- 45 Figure 1 is a section through a work table or support showing a part of a sewing machine mounted thereon together with atape cutting device associated with the sewing mechanism.

Figure 2 is a section and view of the cutting device taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a top view of the cutting mechanism and the adjacent portion of the work support, a 55 sole which has been stitched being also shown.

Figure 4 is a detail section taken on the line "i4 of Figure 1.

The sewing machine includes a work table or support I, and a head 2 which mounts a sewing or stitching mechanism including a presser foot 3, a needle bar 4, and a needle 5, all of which are of familiar construction and in themselves do not constitute the present invention.

Mounted on the work support is a pair of shears including a stationary blade and handle 6 and a movable blade and handle I pivoted thereto. The cutting edges of the blades are closely adjacent to the presser foot and needle, and the handles extend away from the blades to a part of the machine which is substantially remote from the operator.

A bracket 8 mounted on the rear of the machine is provided with a pivotal mounting 9 for a bell crank lever having an arm l0 extending towards the front of the machine and terminating in a pad I I within easy reach of the hand of the operator. The other arm l2 of the bell crank extends downwardly from the pivot 9 and has a forked end 13 which slidably receives a stud I4 on the upper end of a jointed finger [5 having its lower end connected to the movable shear handle I. A tension spring 16 tends to move handle I to open the shears, and pressure on pad ll applied in the direction of the arrow A tends to close the shears.

A tension device for the shears is detailed in Figure 4, nut I1 providing for the adjustment of the tension and the wire spring I8 serving to hold nut I! against accidental rotation.

A short knife 25 projecting from the upper face of blade I facilitates cutting the bobbin thread.

Operation.-The operator starts the operation at 2| by stitching the end of the tape to the sole approximately adjacent the toe and one edge of the latter and after stitching the tape to the point 22, the presser foot is lifted and the sole slipped immediately to the rear of the presser foot with the tape in between the blades of the shears. Pressure on pad ll severs the tape, the work is shifted to bring the bobbin thread T against knife 25, the work is turned around and a new stitching operation is commenced at 23. When this is finished, the presser foot is again lifted, the sole shifted to the position shown in Figure 3, and the tape and thread again severed immediately adjacent the end of the stitching.

The sole is now complete, so far as the tape affixing operation is involved, and may be taken direct to the portion of the shop where the uppers. are attached.

All of the tape which is used is stitched from .end to end to the sole and there are no substan- ,5 tiallengths of tape discarded, as has been the tape, and the time and labor involved in handling the strings of soles from the sewing machine to the cutting table and back to the sewing machine is eliminated.

15 Obviously, the invention is not limited to the 7 details of mechanism illustrated, nor must all of the steps of the operation be followed in the particular order described above in i order to benefit from the invention. The exclusive use of 0 such features as come within the scope of the appended claims is contemplated irrespective of modifications which may be adopted.

I claim: W 1. In a machine of the class described, a work support, a stitching mechanism including a presser foot and a needle, a head spaced above said Work support and mounting said mechanism, a cutting device including a blade arranged to sever material being stitched at a point adjacent said presser foot and needle, means for moving said blade located at a point spaced from said blade and a part of the machine nearest the operator, a manually engageable element near said machine part, and an operative connection between said means and element, said element being supported from said work support and projecting forwardly of said head and spaced laterally thereof from said stitching mechanism and said element and connection being operable independently of said stitching mechanism.

2. In a machine of the class described, a work support, a bracket thereon, a bell crank pivoted on said bracket and including an operating arm spaced substantially above said work support and extending towards the portion of the machine adjacent the operator, said bell crank including a "depending arm terminating adjacent to said work support, a pair of shears having a stationary handlefixed to said work support with its blade extending towards the part of the latter normally occupied by the work, said shears having a movable handle connected to said depending arm whereby movement of said operating arm will move said movable handle to close said I shears.

3. A tape cutting device applicable as a separately formed unit to a sewing machine having an elevated head and a stitching mechanism thereon and a work support, said device com prising a bracket constructed and arranged to be mounted upon said worksupport at a point spaced from said stitching mechanism, cooperative cutting elements carried bysaid bracket and arranged to project to a point adjacent said stitching mechanism, and means for actuating said cutting elements including a lever arranged'to project forwardly to pass beneath the machine head and then upwardly to present a part in front of said head arranged for engagement manually by the hand of the operator.

HERMAN J. I MORANVILLE. 

